Hate for Green Bean Casserole is Uncalled For

This may come to a surprise to you, but there are people out there that don't care for green bean casserole. Not only do they not like it, they down right hate it. I have a friend who starts Facebook posting his dislike for the popular side-dish every year right around the first of November. His circle of green bean casserole hate seems to expand annually. I can do nothing but shake my head in sadness. Who doesn't like one of the dishes you'll encounter at nearly every Thanksgiving meal? Apparently about 24% of you, according to the Seattle Times.

I'm here to stand up for green bean casserole (GBC) as a great holiday dish, in all of it's sodium laden goodness, and here's why:

• GBC is easy to make, and can be prepared ahead of time and popped in the oven when it's about time to eat.
• GBC transports easily. If you're bringing it to a dinner, just tin foil it up, and reheat when you get to where you're going.
• People like GBC. Even with a surprising amount of GBC haters out there, most people at your holiday gathering will at least politely take a spoonful of GBC when passed around the table.
• GBC reheats fairy well. Yes, the crispy little onion things will no longer be crisp and sometimes reheating will make the green beans a little too soft, IMO, but usually GBC can be popped in the microwave the next day with little disappointment.

GBC is credited to a New Jersey woman named Dorcas Reilly who worked for the Campbell soup company back in 1955, according to an interesting history of the dish in Smithsonian Magazine. They say GBC will be served at about 20 million households on Thanksgiving.

Hamburger vs. No Hamburger? We make GBC at my house fairly often and I always add seasoned ground beef to the recipe, serving it as the main dish. Just spoon the cooked beef into a casserole dish and top it with the remaining GBC ingredients and bake till hot. Maybe heat up a loaf of bread while you're at it and you're good-to-go on a carb-filled dinner. When I make GBC as a side-dish, I skip the ground beef.

It's the one dish where ALL of the leftovers will always be eaten at my house. Plus, GBC can easily be modified depending on what you have in your cupboard. Missing cream of mushroom soup? Sub out cream of chicken. Don't have any milk? Use an extra can of soup or even water. No one can tell. Don't have Worschestire sauce? Use soy sauce. Add cheese on top if you want. You can totally freestyle GBC and it will always turn out awesome. I don't get the hate.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app